Improvement in mowing-machines



NITED STATES PATENT Farce.

SETE LAMB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1,645, dated June ,20, 1840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH LAMB, of the city, county,a1'1d State of New York,have invented, constructed, and applied to use a new and use- `ful Improvement in the Machinery for Cutting Grrr s and Grain; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in which the same parts are designated by the same letters of reference in all the different figures.

Figure l represents avertical projection of the geared side of the machine; Fig. 2, a top view, with a part of the floor or casing removed to exhibit the sickle-wheel, gearing, and pulleys and to exhibittheir connection and position with the frame of the machine; Fig. 3, a front vertical projection. Fig. et is a perspective view ofthe sickle guides or rests, with bows or guards extending from the front points of the guides to the front edge of the platform.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching sickles to a horizontal wheel,wh ich is placed near the front end at the inside ol' the machine. Placed beneath thesickle-wheel are guides that project forward and gather the l grain or grass, and serve as rests for the revolving sickles to severthe stalk or blade from the roots, and at such heightI from the ground as desired.

This machine is about nine feet long and seven wide, including the wheels, and is divided longitudinally into two nearly equal parts. The inner' or sickle-wheel side or the platform A, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, is placed near the ground, and its forward end, containing the sickle-wheel B,is adjusted to the requisite height for cutting grass or grain by the thills U, which are attached to the machine by conning-bolts c', which form a fulcrum for the thills G to turn upon to regulate the height of i the sickle-wheel, and the thills are secured in the requisite position by a bolt, b, at the back end ofthe front thill, which is placed within a guide, C', containing a number of holes, to suit the various inclinations of the thills that may be required in cutting different kinds of grass or grain, as shown in Figs. l and 2. The bolt b passes through the guide c,jthe thills C, and into .the machine, thus confining it firmly to any position desired. Theinner thill,C,placed near thel middle of the machine, has only the confining-bolt a', as seen at Fig. 2.

The center and back part of the platform A, which lies back of the sickle-wheel, on which the grain and grass are received wh/en cut-,is constructed sufficiently to admitl the inner carriage-wheel, D,to pass freely within the standinggrain and over the stubble ground, as seen at Fig. 2. The two front guards, E land F, at their forward points are nearly double the width of the platform A within the wheels, and of such height as to secure the grain within them, and their back ends are contracted to conform to the narrow part of the platform A, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Y

The sickle-wheel or center B Ais about four feet in diameter, `and is .formed of metal, with an external rim, to which the sickles H are attached. /Vithin this rim' a sunk gear, I, is formed. The points ofthe teeth are on a plane with the upper face of the rim, and the spaces between the teeth may be formed into open apertures, or closed at the bottom, as preferred. Within the gearing there is another rim, and the two rims support the ends of the teeth, as they are firmly united thereto. From the inner rim arms project inward and unite at the center and form a hub, with an axle, J, in the center thereof, which projects above and below the hub, and turn in boxes placed in the underframe and the casing above the wheel, which is removed to exhibit the wheel B, and seen at Fig. 2. Y

'lhe sickles H are attached to the outer rim of the wheel B by bolts or screws, and are about twelve in number, and their curvature and inclination forward are such as to gather the grain. Near ltheir center or inner end the teeth upon the edge of the sickle are placed obliquely thereto, projecting-both forward and outward, and as they come in contact with the grain, which is held by the guides or rests G, they rotary motion of the sickles gives a drawing stroke, which severs the stalk or blade from the bottom part, similar to the act-ion of the common sickle-by manual labor, which is effected by thelcurve and inclination of the sickle and the form and position of the guides or rests G, as seen at Fig. 2.

The guides or rests G may have a sharp cut- Vting-edge or teeth, similar tovthose on the sickles, as most advantageous to the well performance of the machine. The rests Gare about nine in number, and their outer or front ends are pointed, and their back ends are secured to a segment-rim,g, directly in front and nearly in contact with the wheel B. The rests Gare formed in separate pieces, and connected to the rim g by bolts and nuts or rivets, as may be preferred, as shown at Fig. 2. The sides of the guides or rests are curved, and the curves of the inner adjacent guides unite at the outer edge of the segment-rim.

`The guides extend forward of the sickles H and gather the grain therefor; butthey do not exactly radiate from the center ofthe wheelB,-

but are placed as nigh parallel as the action of the'sickles will admit; and the shape of the guides are varied, that each guide may have such a form and position that the sickles El `may act upon the stalk or blade with a drawing stroke at that part ot the guide Where it severs the top from the bottom, and not cut at right angles with any of the guides, as shown at Figs. 2 and 4.

. The ends of the rim g are secured to the frame, and also to the longitudinal pieces a of the bottom. frame, to give it the necessary solidity. From the points ofthe guides Gr bows or guards K extend to the front of the platform, which covers the Wheel B, Figs. 2 and 4. The guards K are placed above the sickles H, and admitof their turning freely beneath them, and they only operate upon the grain after it has been severed from the bottom, and preventthe sickles from giving it a whirling motion or carrying it to the side of the machine; but they retain it in the place Where it is out, and it falls within the body of the machine, as shown at Figs. 2 and 4. The frame beneath this part of the machine, Vat the forward end, is as thin as the nature and strength of the machine willpermit, and is composed of three longitudinal pieces, ct, firmly secured by as many transverse pieces b as necessary to give the requisite support.

At the outer or geared side of the machine is placed a carriagefwheel, D', and corresponds with the wheel l) at the opposite side ot' the machine, as seen at Figs. 2 and 3. The outer wheel, D', is placed a sufficient distance fromM the machine to receive a gear-Wheel, L, within.

it, and is secured to theinner side of the wheel, and is of nearly thc same diameter. The Wheels D and L propel the sickle-Wheel by the adhesion of the carriage-Wheel to the ground. The Wheel L connects with and gives motion to a pinion, M, placed in front ot the wheel L, and is attached to the outer end of the shaft N. At the opposite end of this shaft, and beneath the platform B, a pulley, O, is secured, and is near the partition or side of the plat-y form A. From this pulley a band passes to a vcorrespondingpulley,P,ofsmallerdimensions,

in front ofthe large pulley O and on a transverse line with the center ofthe wheel B. The shaft N and the axle ofthe pulley P are placed in suitable boxes and connected to the machine by stands. Within the pulley P another gearwheel, Q, is placed, and is secured to the same shaft or axle, and gives motion to the Wheel B, to which the sickles Hare attached, as seen at Figs. l and 2. The gear Q connects with and gives motion to the sunk Wheel I Within the rimsof the wheel B, and the proportions of the vdifferent wheels and pulleys are such as `to give the sickles a velocity capable of severthe axle-'tree S, and forms the axleforthe Wheel D, Figs. l and 2. x-

At the outsidey of platform R a frame of panel-wo'rk, x, rises/sufficiently Ahigh to prevent the grain fronrbecomn g entangled iu the gearing L or wheel D on the outside ofthe machine when placed upon theplatform R, as seen at Figs. land 3. The grain upon the platform A may be removed as often as occasion may require and deposited upon the platform R in qnai'ititysufcient fon/lifteen or twenty bundles before it is removed from the machine.

The sickle-Wheel's placed at the inside of the machine, and occupies but a little more than one-halfot' the width of themachinemhile the platform A, on which the grain is received from the sickle-Wheel, is contracted and less in Width than the platform lt at the outsideof the machine, which forms a receptacle for the deposit of grain. By this arrangement the horse can travel in fronnof the platform R, at

the outside of the machineand by the side of the standing grain, in advanceof the sicklewheel, which is at the opposite side ofthe machine, and projects nearly its Whole 'size into the standing grain, which it cuts and deposits upon the platform A as the machine advances. Another advantage is derived by placing the sickle-Wheelat the inside of the machine-the formation of the raised platform R for the delposit of grain which accumulates upon the platform A, and is removed therefrom and placed `upon the platform R in quantities suf- 4h'cient to form a number ot' sheaves, thus performing the operation of cutting and collecting together the grain at one operation, thus avoiding the trouble of collecti n gsin gle sheaves 2. The platform R, the same bein gconstrueted and used for the purpose as hereinbefore described.

3. The placing of the sickle-wheel B and its Aappendages at; the inner side of the machine,

so as to permit the horse to travel by the side of the grain in front; of the machine, and to l allow the platform R to extend by the side of it for carrying the grain, substantially as before described.

SETE LAMB. Witnesses:

J AMES H. RELLAN, 'ROBERT KERVAN. 

